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A case of spring fever has its own cure

Posted: March 28, 2011 - 8:22pm

In the low country, spring turns into summer at the blink of an eye.

There is no thermostat setting between cool and heat.

The days of opening the house to afternoon breezes disappeared with window screens and the arrival of pollen determined to cover the world. Allergies is a word that should always be written in capital letters.

Aggressive gnats with the pincers of scorpions swarm around vulnerable humans whose only desire is to admire the beauties of nature and maybe get in a round or two of golf.

None the less, cynicism has no place in the glorious, however brief, days of spring when azaleas burst into flowers of multiple hues of pink and the electric fuchsia of a matador’s cape.

The much vilified wisteria justifies its invasive behavior creating fragrant vistas of purple in the treetops inciting honey bees to exhaust themselves on the lavish bounty.

Every water oak in the neighborhood has pushed off tons of dead leaves to make way for fresh new green and bushes sprout tender growth.

Our driveway is edged with encroaching azaleas that I promised to trim after they finish blooming. Over in a corner of the yard is a dogwood in full flower hovering over our fig tree that for 30 years has faithfully produced leaves and not one single fig.

Plein air artists come to capture the springtime beauty of the island where I live. Why should anyone want to go elsewhere?

Somehow, wanderlust at this time of year is not appeased by watching Samantha Brown on the television as she travels around the world.

My mail box fills with travel brochures promising adventures at bargain prices and I stack them on the desk next to my sobering bank statement.

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